Fighting crime: Police propose zonal divisions in city

Lahore Police was short of 28,000 personnel, says CCPO. The city police will establish a Security division, which will be responsible for escorting VIPs. PHOTO: REUTERS/ FILE

LAHORE:

Lahore Police is mulling over two proposals that recommend dividing the city into zones to help check crime, said Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ahmad Raza Tahir on Thursday.

He was talking to reporters at the office of the Investigation DIG.

CCPO Tahir told reporters that one of the proposals suggested that Lahore be divided into two zones, with three divisions each. Model Town division, Saddar division and City division would comprise one zone while the other would have Cantt, Iqbal T own and Civil Lines division. Each zone will be headed by a DIG.

The second recommendation was to divide the city into four zones, in which case some of the divisions might be designated as independent zones. According to this proposal, a district police officer (DPO) would head each zone.

Tahir said that one of the proposals would be sent to the chief minister for approval after deliberations. He did not specify when that would happen.

He claimed that the crime rate had gone down in the last two months but did not say by how much. Lahore Police was short of 28,000 personnel, he said, adding that they were trying their best to control crime.

The city police will establish a Security division, which will be responsible for escorting VIPs.

This, he said, would help the Operations wing, which currently provides personnel for escort duty. The Security division will have its head office in Manawan, said the CCPO.

Replying to questions about his transfer, Tahir said that he had written to the chief minister and requested to be transferred out of Lahore “due to personal reasons”. Sources in the department said that he might receive transfer orders in two weeks. Tahir took charge as the Lahore CCPO on May 9, 2011.